This application relates to a device which signals the opening of a mailbox and is more particularly related to a device employed to signal the fact that a rural mailbox has been opened to receive mail.
In the past, many devices have been proposed for the purpose of signalling the owner of a rural mailbox the fact that mail has been inserted into the box by the U.S. Postal Service. Mainly, these devices have been actuated upon the opening of the mailbox door by means of spring devices or the signal means itself comprised a spring. A few examples of spring devices can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,483,992 to Young, U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,298 to Haserodt, U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,376 to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,140 to Buedinger, U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,784 to Sowton and U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,784 to Woldhaus, et al. A signalling device comprising a spring can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,684 to Eging and U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,511 to Cvar.
A moving weight balance signalling device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,295,360 to Stapleton.
Such prior art devices inherently contain the problem of wear upon moving parts or the maintenance of spring tension over long periods of time. While the mannerism of attachment of these devices to the mailbox varies greatly, all require support from the mailbox.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a signalling device for door-accessed containers.
A further object of this invention is to provide a signal device which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and simple to install.
A further object of this invention is to provide a mailbox signalling device having a minimum number of moving parts and thus a minimum of maintenance problems.
Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and inspection of the attached drawings.